Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma said Friday that should demand grow for ventilators as the coronavirus epidemic, federal officials "hope" that the number of devices in the nation's stockpiles "is adequate."
"The stockpile is there and we hope that it is adequate, but I think it is important to know that's why we're focusing so much on the prevention of this and trying to mitigate the spread, so we don't create a situation where our whole healthcare system is unduly stressed," Verma told CNN's "New Day," sparking an argument between herself, show co-host John Berman and the network's senior medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
She added that there are almost 13,000 ventilators in the national stockpile so that if hospitals need them, they can be shipped out.
"We have a stockpile of materials, of protective equipment, and we're working with hospitals to make sure that they understand what is available," Verma added.
Gupta, however, questioned if that would be enough, but she responded that it is too soon to make estimates.
"With the moderate pandemic, we would need at least 64,000 ventilators," he said. "That's about the number that exists and then you add in the stockpile, 72,000 or so is what we have."
"We only had a couple of requests for ventilators," Verma said, adding that the travel restrictions from Europe and China that President Donald Trump ordered are important.
"But travel from Europe doesn't do anything for the cases that are already here," Berman said.
"That's why you're seeing communities respond by having -- shutting down schools, encouraging people not to go to large gatherings," she said.
Verma also addressed the testing issue, after Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases acknowledged the system so far has marked a "failing."
"If we want to have the widespread testing that we need, this needs to come up through the private sector," said Seema. "I think it's fair to say we need to do more testing."
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